CHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 heading to the Kenyan capital Nairobi has crashed near Addis Ababa, the airline said on Sunday morning.
The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 with flight number ET 302, lost contact at 08.44 am local time soon after taking off, at 08:38 am local time, from Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital, the airline said.
No one survived the crash, according to reports. Ethiopian Airlines has yet to confirm the number of casualties.
The aircraft went down around Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa. The airline believes there were 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.
The Ethiopian government expressed its 'deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.
Boeing tweeted, 'Boeing is aware of reports of an airplane accident and is closely monitoring the situation.'
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed soon after takeoff from Jakarta in 2018 -- killing 189 people.
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